A rather blunt conversation with Eddie Nketiah went viral (Pictures: Amazon Prime Video)
Albert Sambi Lokonga says he is not a fan of a scene in Amazon’s All or Nothing documentary where he is scolded by Arsenal team-mate Eddie Nketiah over his unhappiness at his lack of game time.
One of the most shared clips from the docu-series, which released in August 2022, saw a group of fringe players all sat around a table in the canteen eating breakfast.
Nketiah and Lokonga, who is currently impressing on loan at Luton Town, were also joined by Nuno Tavares and Emile Smith Rowe as the Belgian youngster was quizzed on a change in his character.
‘You’ve changed quick, huh?’ said Nketiah, with Smith Rowe also noting a difference in his demeanour. ‘This guy was always smiling, smiling.’
Lokonga replied that he was ‘always playing’ at the start of the season, which prompted a sharp response from Nketiah: ‘So what, my friend? You think you’re the f***ing only man not playing, huh? Stop feeling sorry for yourself and f***ing wake up yeah?’
The clip went viral at the time and has often resurfaced since, with Nketiah’s comments highlighting the mentality that is required to be part of Mikel Arteta’s squad even if a player is not in the first-choice XI.
Lokonga has never spoken about the exchange before, but now says he feels it did not paint him in a great light and got taken out of context when it was just playful banter between friends.
Nketiah and Smith Rowe tease Lokonga (Picture: Prime Video)
Lokonga has been a revelation since joining Luton (Picture: Getty)
‘I would still have the same answer now. A player wants to be on the pitch, and if he’s not playing, he is not happy,’ Lokonga told The Athletic.
‘The other thing was, me and Eddie, we are really, really close. If you look at it back, you can see I was even laughing at the end.
‘I didn’t find it difficult but I didn’t like it. Eddie was looking like the guy who was working hard and I was looking like the guy who was not happy, blaming and moaning.
‘Eddie is my friend. It‘s more of a thing on social media.’
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Lokonga has earned rave reviews since joining Luton on loan and was even name-checked by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp ahead of the Hatters’ trip to Anfield on Wednesday evening.
Although Lokonga is happy with his recent performances, he still feels he has plenty of room for improvement and has credited manager Rob Edwards with helping him rediscover his mojo.
He continued: ‘I’m getting there. I’m not far from my best level — but I’m not there yet. I’m working every day to recover my body after I play, because it’s been a long time since I played this many games in a row.
‘To have a manager that backs you up, that gives you confidence, that trusts you… that’s what a player wishes for and what a player needs to perform at his best. That’s why I’m trying to give back on the pitch.’
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